History

The Arjuna Story

Arjuna Natural Ltd was founded by Mr. P.J Kunjachan & Dr. Benny Antony in 1989. The duo thought leaders represented two different worlds but shared a common dream. The founder-directors’ intellectual and industrial strength provided a winning combination to position the company as the leader in the nutraceutical segment.

Mr. P.J Kunjachan had a successful business track record to his backing. A go – getter, risk taker and an entrepreneur, Mr. P.J Kunjachan firmly believed in the power of nature and recognized the role of herbs in providing a healthy life. Career-minded Dr. Benny Antony, brother in law of Mr. P.J Kunjachan began his brilliant career as a chemist in the extraction industry. Dr. Benny Antony basically a post graduate in Applied Chemistry specialized in Oil Fats & Aromatics and has a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University. Realizing the importance of speciality herbal extracts, the visionary technophile soon became the forerunner of evolving nutraceutical industries. Business and financial acumen of Mr. P.J. Kunjachan and specialist knowledge of Dr. Benny Antony added a little salt to bring out the flavour of herbs in nutraceutical industry. The Company has evolved over the years into a multimillion dollar organization.

The epic journey of the Company and its phenomenal rise to fame bear witness to the dedicated team work of the employees. Arjuna Natural Ltd, started manufacturing value added herbal extracts. The Company made essential oil of mustard (Natural) for a small but significant niche market gained worldwide acceptance. Arjuna Natural Ltd later focused on nutraceutical sector, a segment which was still in its infancy introduced a series of innovative herbal extracts along with technological innovation which is imperative for its competitive success in a dynamic global business environment. Arjuna recognised the potential of an invention and started pioneering new products, enhancing current products, or creating a unique operational system. To be in the success path the company patented many innovative products. The company made an indelible impression on the nutraceutical segment, manufactured Omega 3 fatty acids with indigenous technology and won National Award for successful commercialization of an indigenous technology. The state of the art laboratory was approved by the Ministry of Science & Technology in 2001 for in-house research. The manufacturing facility at Karumathampatti, Coimbatore was set up in 2002 to support the growing demands of its global clientele. Today Arjuna functions with a dedicated work force of about 300 employees spread over five units in three states of south India with a team of 40 scientists to steer its R & D division. Arjuna has to its credit a total of 39 patents of which 25 are international patents and a score patents have been commercialized globally. Lauding the team of Arjuna for introducing clean energy for manufacturing curcumin extract, the MD and founder of Arjuna natural extracts India, P.J.Kunjachan says technological innovation is the only way to success.

Understanding the fact that successful firms, belonging to different industry groups, are bound by a common thread: technological innovations to achieve superior performance, Arjuna invests valuable resources in R&D for sustainable development.

Arjuna discovered bioavailable curcumin and successfully commercialized it and gained functional and cost-quality differentiation advantage over rivals. The company develops new product and market and thus every invention becomes an innovation. The company’s research orientation and innovation made it to emerge from its small-town beginnings to join world’s nutraceutical company chain.

Arjuna understands that innovations do not occur in product design only but are also possible in materials procurement and logistics, manufacturing, packaging, marketing and distribution, and in how customers are served after sales. Today Arjuna has delighted customers in over 40 countries.

Knowing fully well that inventions are the prerequisite for innovation and inventions require determining the area of research focus, Arjuna invests in human and physical assets for conducting research.Inventions are developed into products through successive stages of refinement and verification involving designing and testing. Arjuna invests about 10% of its turnover for conducting R&D studies of new products in various universities abroad and in India.

Arjuna transformed itself from a regional company of the Nineties to a multimillion behemoth.

Arjuna Natural Ltd is India’s leading manufacturer and exporter of standardized botanical extracts for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries for over two decades.